Airborne 08.18.17

Program Allows Students To Begin Pilot Screening Process
Early

A new agreement between Western Michigan University's
College of Aviation and two closely allied commercial air carriers
will put WMU students on a clear pathway to careers as commercial
airline pilots.

The WMU/ExpressJet Airline Pilot Pathway
Program—AP3—will allow WMU aviation students to begin a
pilot screening process early in their WMU careers that will
prepare them for and guarantee jobs as first officers with
ExpressJet. Successfully meeting all the screening requirements
will also guarantee participating students an interview for a
position as a pilot with Delta Air Lines. Atlanta-based Atlantic
Southeast Airlines merged with ExpressJet Airlines in 2011. The new
ExpressJet is the world's largest regional airline, operating an
average of 2,200 daily flights as Delta Connection, Continental
Express and United Express.
The agreement makes WMU just the fourth collegiate aviation program
in the nation selected to participate in the AP3 program that is
designed to provide the airline with a reliable source of
top-quality pilots in the years to come. Airline officials have
indicated they are reaching out to college programs that already
have an established track record for producing top-quality
pilots.

"We've had a wonderful relationship with ExpressJet over the
years, but this new agreement is unique," says Dave Powell, dean of
the aviation college. "We're going to help our airline partners
identify students in their freshman and sophomore years who will
agree to meet a highly structured screening process used by other
major airlines to select its pilots. For those who are able to meet
the requirements, the likelihood of securing a job as a first
officer is high. It will be a challenging proposition, but the
program offers our students a clear pathway to a career as an
airline pilot."

The agreement, Powell notes, will benefit both students and the
airline sponsors of the effort who are looking at a skyrocketing
demand for new pilots in the next decade. Nationally and
internationally, all signs point to what one aviation association
executive calls "the longest and largest pilot-hiring boom in the
history of the industry." After a period of slow industry personnel
growth, it is now faced with such factors as a wave of pilot
retirements, growing international travel routes, proposed changes
to FAA rules about the time pilots must rest between flights, and
an improving U.S. economy.

The first WMU students have already begun the process. Students
involved will be monitored throughout their academic careers, and
they must pass six screening measures and complete WMU's Advanced
Jet Training course. They also must earn the appropriate flight
certifications, including that of becoming a certified flight
instructor.

Powell says Delta and ExpressJet sent their pilot hiring
managers and recruiters to campus late last month to describe the
program to aviation students, the turnout for an evening
information session was phenomenal.

"We expected a couple of dozen students and ended up with more
than 90," Powell says. "Delta and ExpressJet officials have always
told us they're impressed with our level of training and the
quality of young pilots we produce, but they were blown away by the
enthusiastic response they got on our campus."